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Dodge Viper ACR is back!

If you've just bought the most hardcore version of any car that's currently on sale, it will very soon be rendered pedestrian. That's because the Viper ACR is back and it's even more capable. In fact, it's a lot more capable.

Upgraded suspension? Check. The brakes are carbon-ceramic Brembo units with six piston callipers in the front clamping on 15.4 inches rotors and four piston callipers in the back clamping on 14.2 in rotors. Adjustable Bilstein coil-overs replace the stock units and the springs now are stiffer at 600 lb/in in the front and an eye water 1,300 lb/in in the back. Unlike many aftermarket adjustable dampers, those shocks feature 10 settings to adjust both rebound and compression. The coil-overs also allow for ride height adjustment of up to 3 inches! The tires? Oh, they're big. 295/25/19 in the front and 355/30/19 in the rear. If all of this adjustability isn't enough, consider the adjustable aero bits.

An optional Extreme Aero package will feature a detachable front splitter extension, an adjustable dual-element carbon fibre rear wing, four dive planes, six removable diffuser strakes, removable brake ducts, and hood louvers that can be popped out to decrease air pressure in the wheel wells. There are race cars that would have to change body parts to change airflow in the wheel wells, not pop out louvers. Ready for some numbers? Better be sitting down for this. All of this adjustability can be tuned to deliver 2,000 lbs at 177 mph. Two thousand pounds. Some press releases of high performance cars mention aerodynamic improvements to deliver zero lift at lower speeds. Some brag about a few hundred pounds of downforce. The brand spankin' new Porsche 911 GT3 RS has 761 lbs at 125 mph. less than half at over 50 mph lower. It also has 80% of the downforce that a GT3 Cup racing car has which would put a GT3 Cup racing car at 951 lbs at 125 mph. This street legal car will get 2,000 lbs at 177 mph. Let that sink in.

Inside, the ACR is surprisingly a lot more friendly than the last one. Dodge reduced the speaker count to only three. The Uconnect infotainment system is still available as well as A/C and there's still carpeting and plenty of sound insulation. Faux suede is used on the interior surfaces along with lightweight carpeting and a unique steering wheel and an ACR badge is placed on the dashboard.

As with the previous ACR version, power stays the same so the magic happens everywhere else. That means you still get the same 8.4 litre V10 making 645 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque through the same Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual. Dodge will probably be happy to tell you that that torque figure is still the highest of any production naturally aspirated engine. That's why Dodge likes to use big cubes although I have no doubt that the engine could easily make over 700 hp if it wouldn't step on Ferrari's toes. Actually, scratch that. It would absolutely make minced meat of Ferrari's toes.

At the end of the day, though, I don't think there's anything to complain about it if you can afford it. You'll be more comfortable inside while piloting a vastly more beastly machine. Bring it on!